Liga I
Romania | confed = UEFA | founded = 1909 | folded = | divisions = | teams = 18 | feeds = | promotion = | relegation = Liga II | nationalitylevel = | levels = 1 | domest_cup = Cupa României, Supercupa României | confed_cup = UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League | champions = | season = 2016–17 | most_successful_club = Steaua București (26) | tv = Look TV Look Plus Dolce Sport Digi Sport | current = 2017–18 | website = http://lpf.ro }} Liga I (also spelled Liga 1) is the Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Romanian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Liga II. Liga I was established in 1909 and commenced play for the 1909–10 campaign, and is currently ranked the 16th in UEFA's league coefficient ranking list. It is part of the Romanian Professional Football League (LPF). Before the 2006–07 season, it was named Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered this trademark. Starting with the 2015–16 season, Liga I will only have 14 teams. History The first football club's organization formula was "A'' Divisional College" (''Colegiul Divizionar A) founded on 5 October 1970 and led by Mircea Angelescu. Until 1990, the "A'' Divisional College" was formal without remarkable decisions. During the 90's a lot of changes were implemented, reflected in the new names of the organization, e.g. "''A Divisional Team's League", " National Football League", "Professional Club's League", etc. On 10 October 1992, the organization's name became "Professional Football A Division League", led by Mircea Angelescu - president, Dumitru Dragomir - vice-president and Daniel Lăzărescu - general secretary. On 22 January 1993, the name of the organization became "Professional Football League of Romania", an A-Division professional football clubs representation. On 13 October 1993, the B Division clubs members were included. On 30 September 1996, Dumitru Dragomir has been elected president of the "Professional Football League of Romania". The headquarters is located on 47 Mihai Eminescu Street (since February 1997). In December the same year it was decided that the league will organize the A-Division Championship starting with 1997–98 edition. In November 2013, Gino Iorgulescu has been elected as the new president of the Romanian Professional Football League, replacing Dumitru Dragomir, who had been in charge since 1996. There are currently 18 teams at this level, of which the bottom four are relegated at the season's end. These teams are replaced by the champions of the two divisions that make up Liga II, the second level of the Romanian football league system. Starting from the 2007–08, the champions and the runners-up of the Liga I were eligible to compete in the UEFA Champions League during the following season. The third and fourth placed team were eligible to compete in the UEFA Europa League. Since the 2012–13 season, only one team is eligible for the UEFA Champions League. The most successful teams over the years have been Steaua București (25 titles), Dinamo București (18 titles), UTA Arad (6 titles), Universitatea Craiova and Petrolul Ploiești (4 titles). Other notable teams are Rapid București and CFR Cluj, each with three titles won. CFR Cluj was the first team from outside of Bucharest to win the championship (in the 2007–08 season) since the 1990–91 season, starting a five-year period of non-Bucharest champions (CFR Cluj with three titles, Unirea Urziceni and Oțelul Galați with one title each). Teams such as Politehnica Timișoara, FC Vaslui or Unirea Urziceni managed good classifications, in front of the Bucharest teams, who slightly began to fade since then. Starting from the 2012–13 season, Steaua București has become again the best performing team, achieving two consecutive titles, as well as good results in the continental competitions. Personnel and kits 2017-18 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. External links *Romanian Professional Football League official website *Results and statistics since 1932 *Liga I table, fixtures and results, player info and team evolution Category:Romanian competitions Category:Competitions